


Euthanasia

by Infy



Category: Samurai Warriors
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gen, Gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-06
Updated: 2013-11-06
Packaged: 2017-12-31 17:27:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1034376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Infy/pseuds/Infy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He had always told her the end of the journey was so much more important than the start, or even the process of getting there. Her eyes never wavered from the goal he had taught her to pursue, even now, as he cradled her in his arms, her eyes trained forward.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Euthanasia

They had begun their journey the same way most do, sharing the blissful moments where the grass was green and no clouds darkened the sky. He had watched her grow from the sidelines, from the small, vulnerable little creature that could fit only his finger in her hand, to the beautiful young woman he had come to call home. The sensation of that nostalgia could not be described--it is hard to catch in any other way, and so, so easy to slip away from their fingers--even as they intertwined together, it was all so simple, the act of losing touch no matter how close her hand was to holding her father's.

He had always told her the end of the journey was so much more important than the start, or even the process of getting there. Her eyes never wavered from the goal he had taught her to pursue, even now, as he cradled her in his arms, her eyes trained forward.

“Father...”

Just as she had said when she was young and fell asleep outside, and he had to carry her indoors--those days, the skies were brighter then, the ground firm and fertile and not stained in the blood of the innocent. His fingers gently ran through her hair and the tension in his muscles made him shake.

_Losing you, it would be the cruelest of horrors._

Their stay in this realm of being had been brief. He had barely known her. He hadn't begun to understand her beyond knowing her favorite color was blue--but not just blue, the dark sky blue that was the color of the birds that they would feed when she was young--beyond understanding the fact that if you give her takoyaki you could convince her to do almost anything, beyond knowing all the deepest secrets she would never share with anyone else. It all pooled together in his mind as he knelt to set her down in futile hope that she could find her breath again. The blood ran the ground red once more, his arms stained crimson as they shook in terror. His veins were overtaken by the fear spreading through him that he would never learn anything more about the young lady that had captured his heart since the day she first opened her eyes.

Her lips moved but no words made themselves heard, and his face hardened.

"Do not speak if it pains you, my girl...”

The act of existing seemed to be painful for her, and every breath resulted in a whimper trickling from her throat. “D-do you remember what you told me before today... that...”

“That we would see together the end of this chaos? Yes, Ina... I remember. And we will see that peace,” Tadakatsu reached a shaking hand to grasp hers. “I know we will.”

Their journey together, collected from the scraps and leavings of memories past, both bitter and blissful, he knew was drawing to a close, no matter how much they both wanted to keep moving, but the only words she could manage as she squeezed his hand conveyed to him better than anything else that it was the end of their time together.

“Show... me... peace...”

His eyes widened, and his spear shifted in his hand. “No, Ina, I...”

“Please...” Her words drowned out by the air and blood bubbling into her chest, and as she lay there, she began to tense, suffocating and drowning in her own body.

There was no other option open other than to watch with unimaginable horror as she suffered, and for as much time as they had spent walking their path together, it was an option that he was completely unprepared in taking. The only thing he could do was to end her pain. His hand trembled as he choked back his breath and gripped his Tonbo-giri.

“Ina...” he brought the trembling hand that held hers to stroke her hair, and her face softened if only for a brief moment as he held it over her, steeling himself. “My little girl... you've grown into a fine young woman,” his voice shook, brittle breath hesitant in leaving him, “I am so proud of you.”

“I... love you... Daddy...” she gasped, each breath she took tearing through them both.

He shut his eyes tightly before whispering, “And I love you, Ina.”

His hand shifted, and the familiar sensation of his spear tearing through armor, flesh, through cardiac muscle rippled through him, and he had never been more disgusted with it. A sickening thunk rang through the air, and the sound of her struggling to breathe ceased almost as immediately as the start of their journey together. As quickly as she had entered his life, she had taken his heart, his spirit, and made her exit, and the sight of his spear protruding from her chest combined with the memories they had shared together all flooding back into his conscience...

The weight of it all was enough for Tadakatsu Honda, the greatest warrior in the land, to lean his head into his beloved daughter's lifeless body and breathe away the agony and terror that infected him like a disease. No matter how strong he knew he was, the finality of her death was enough to draw horrified tears from his eyes.


End file.
